Friday, November 11, 2016

As Indian carriers have lined up over 550 new aircraft for deliveries over next six years, more parking bays are being planned by the government at airports nearest to the over-crowded and clogged metro airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata airports.

The development comes in wake of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conveying its concern to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) concerning over-crowding of aircraft at these metro airports. It has pointed out that Indian carriers are adding more aircraft to their fleet, which is creating shortage of parking space at these metro airports and also creating operational problems leading to flight delays. According to a DGCA official, Indian carriers are expected to add at least 63 new and leased aircraft by December 2017.

What’s more worrying for the DGCA is that it has allowed 21 percent more flights from the last year for the winter schedule, which started on October 30 and would continue till March 26 next year. DGCA approved a total of 16,600 flights per week to be operated by domestic carriers compared with 13,744 flights during the winter schedule last year.
10/11/16 Sanjay Singh/The New Indian Express